New York Inmates to Get Free Tablets

The New York Department of Corrections and Community Supervision has just announced that the free tablet program will start this summer.

According to WGRZ, the DOCCS is rolling out a new initiative to bring tablets to inmates, free of charge and will give them access to free educational material and eBooks and to file grievances.

The tablets are going to be provided by the corrections related service provider JPay, who said that the tablets would not be provided by taxpayer money, they say that inmates will be footing the costs for some of the tablet's services.

The tablets, once in the inmates' hands, will not have any internet capability and they'll be pre-loaded with educational material. The tablets will also feature services like Prison Rape Elimination Act reporting, Grievance filing, and the potential for placing commissary orders.

JPay told WGRZ that 14 states already offer the tablets to inmates and that "Similar to purchasing a song on iTunes or an online game, incarcerated individuals will have the same opportunity to purchase entertainment and media products and download them onto the JP5 device. There are fees associated with those purchases, as well as sending emails".

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